Sunday, August 28, 2011

My trip to Logos Hope - floating book fair!

This afternoon, my mom and I made our way to go onboard the ship, Logos Hope, 'venue' to the world's largest floating book fair.

It's the second time that I visited a floating book fair. The last time was around 10 years ago when the Doulos ship (with books for sale!) came to Penang, Malaysia. I'm not sure what happened to Doulos but its sister ship, Logos Hope, is here in Penang right now.

It arrived at Swettenham Pier at Weld Quay on August 19 but opened its doors to the public on Aug 25.

According to news reports, there are over 5,000 book titles for sale on the ship, with prices ranging from RM8 to RM16 for paperbacks.

Sure, there might be lots of books because I wished there had been more space to move around on the ship!

Before going up the ship, we already had to queue up in a long line to register our names and Identity Card number. It is a Sunday today but I certainly did not expect a crowd to throng the fair. Well, it's not everyday that anyone can go onboard a ship at only RM1 for an adult and free for kids below age 12. Of course, shutterbugs took the opportunity to snap pictures away.

Once up the ship, I knew it was going to be hard to be able to check out every book displayed there. So I just inched and wormed my way around to check out the various titles.

There weren't that many fiction titles. Most of them I haven't heard of. But there were shelves dedicated only for Narnia books and those by Enid Blyton. There were Christian fiction and thrillers by David Baldacci.

Other general titles were also available such as cooking, gardening, health, family, spiritual, devotion, etc. Lots of books for kids too.

I finally bought The Book of Lies by Brad Meltzer. It's a mystery/thriller sort of book about the murder weapon which Cain used to kill Abel and somehow Superman is also involved in it.

So I paid the cashier and walked my way out while following the journey of The Prodigal Son. It was a series of cartoon pictures of a young man who squandered all the money his father gave him.

Anyway, we could not leave the ship immediately as it was raining cats and dogs. We decided to stop by the International Cafe and ordered a pie, cake and drinks. And yes, it was crowded there too.

I think it'd be better to visit the ship on weekdays when it wouldn't be so packed.

Details to remember!
Logos Hope @ Swettenham Pier, Weld Quay, Penang
Open to the public until Sept 25
Time: 10am - 10pm (Tue - Sat) and 1pm - 10pm (Sun). Closed on Mondays.

Good news! Logos Hope will also make its way to other states in Malaysia:

Port Klang (Sept 29 - Oct 23)
Kuching (Oct 28 - Nov 14)
Kota Kinabalu (Nov 18 - Dec 4)

Enjoy your trip there!

7 comments:

  1. This may be a really stupid question, but how come you're in Malaysia but read lots of books in English and can actually find books there from another country? I read something about the British having something to do with Malaysia so maybe that's where the connections come from, but I'm just curious.

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  2. Haven't get the chance to visit there...! Hopefully can make it there during this raya holidays.. ;)

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  3. Girl: We have many books in English that are sold in the bookstores here in Malaysia. We also have authors who write books in English and in our national language, which is the Malay language. And yeah, we also have English newspapers in this country.

    I can't be sure how the English language was first used here but yes, I guess the English influence must have originated from the British. There was British colonisation in parts of Malaysia including Penang where I'm staying.

    Thanks for asking this question. It's given me the notion to start going back to my history books!

    Maureen: The ship will still be here for a few more weeks! If you're in Penang, don't miss the chance. If not, it will go to your hometown. :)

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  4. I read in the papers that the ship is coming to Kuching, Sarawak but they didn't announce the date. Do you happen to know? Thanks.

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  5. Purple Queen Fairy: I included the dates in my post, Kuching (Oct 28 - Nov 14). Hope you can make it!

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  6. A floating bookfair! I thought there was nothing cooler than the book barge, but I was wrong :P Thank you for the virtual visit!

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  7. Aargh, I've always wanted to visit one of these floating book ships! Hopefully, I'll be able to take my kids to the next one that comes along.

    Nice pics :)

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